We need the rain

This Ride: 10 miles
Kona Distance: 3,770.1 miles
Month to date: 603.4 miles
2010 Total: 4246.6 miles
Pace to 5,254.8 mile goal in 2010: (302.2 miles ahead of goal pace)

There was nothing much encouraging me to get out of bed this morning to ride the 5:45 ride with the Severna Park Peloton. The alarm clock rang at 4:55. The rain was coming down hard. The temperatures were cool. I had not slept well, so I stayed in bed and made the decision to hit the trainer at lunch time. It has been months since I’ve said, “I hate the trainer.”

In fact, May 17 was the last time I rode the trainer this year. Before heading off to work this morning, I installed an old wired bike computer to the rear wheel and lubed the chain, figuring that if I accomplished these tasks, I would be more likely to ride at noon. I installed the computer so that I don’t have to estimate miles. I catch enough flack for counting miles on a trainer. Some purists only count outdoor miles.

I rode a 15 minute warm up, two 5-minute intervals (above 150 bpm heart rate) with 3 minutes between, and then a very brief cool down. It was only about 32 minutes, but I was cranking out sweat despite two fans. I rode for 10 miles and then shut it down. That’s the nature of squeezing in a ride. There is nothing here to brag about, and I’ll need to extend the time on the trainer whenever I use it, but this is 10 miles and 30 minutes today instead of goose eggs or a very wet and miserable ride (I did get the miserable in!). It was also my shortest time on a ride since April 11th! Embarrassing!

I have 3 more days this month to ride, and I’ve logged over 600 miles this month. Six hundred miles was my September goal distance.

Mike B on the other hand commuted to work on his bike this morning, putting all of us who sat it out to shame.